A successful shipping operation is an elusive and morphing recipe of customs officials, freight agents, time, fees, fortune and sometimes misfortune.  Depending on the culture, the final dish is often served with a healthy portion of delays and unexpected fees.  Regardless of all the trials and tribulations, the persistent traveler ultimately emerges from Hades with the key to an adventure rider’s utopia.

I have completed roughly 20 international border crossings and 4 intercontinental shipments and am still learning.

After dropping off our bikes this time around with all crating, freighting and paperwork sorted, we figured we were good to go.  With two days to spare, we were off to play a bit before our flight.

I was barely out of my paraglider harness when the phone rang with all sorts of new shipping drama.  Come to find out, one of our motorcycle crates was two inches too tall for airline travel. The crater had overbuilt the crate.  We would also learn that the bikes could not be sent to the original destination, which of course, was after we had already bought plane tickets to Johannesburg. With 24 hours before departure, we quickly stowed our gliders and raced back to LA to rebuild our crates.

Katelyn working late to reroute our flights and change hotel bookings…

As frustrated as we were at times, we had to acknowledge that what we were doing was a learning process for both us and the airfreight company.  In the end, everything was worked out in time and we made our flight from Los Angeles to Cape Town with a few hours to spare. Thanks to Dad and Grandma for the ride to the airport! 😁

There are little to no resources available to turn to for advice or information regarding airfreighting motorcycles to South Africa from Los Angeles. We would like to contribute to the next adventure rider considering airfreight from California to Africa…

How To Air Freight from Los Angeles to South Africa:

1. Determine whether you want to ship by air (2 weeks) or sea (2 months). Call and email at least 6 different freight companies. Work any existing contacts for advice.  We used Cavalier Logistics out of Long Beach.  It wasn’t smooth or cheap, but could have been if we’d known what we will list here.
2. Request a shipping quote.  When you find the cheapest shipping quote ask what the additional fees will be!!!!!!!!!!!!! For example: What are the airline fees for carrying hazardous cargo? What is the airline fuel charge? What extra fees will you charge me for customs, carnet, delivering the motorcycles to the airport, etc.?
3. Disassemble your bike as much as possible and build the crate as small as possible. If you can, build the crate yourself.  Heat treated wood is required for international shipping and is available, talk to your freight agent if you cant find a source.  If you pay someone to crate your bike, make sure they build it as small as possible.  A few inches could be worth hundreds of dollars in airfreight fees. Paying a company to build your crate can take between 2 to 7 days. Some airlines want a fully crated bike, some only need the bike on a pallet with shrink wrap over the bike. The latter option is much lighter and therefore cheaper.
4. Deliver the crate to your freight company. The freighting company does not schedule a flight until it has the cargo.  Expect at least one week transit time to your destination, but be prepared for it to take longer. You will likely pay your bill when you deliver your bike to the freight company.
5. We were required to give up our carnet to the freighter in LA for the export and then pay 150$ for its delivery to the import city. If possible, do not leave for the import city without your carnet. This caused us a delay on the other end. The carnet arrived several days after our bikes arrived, delaying the release of our bikes from customs.
6. Once the carnet arrived in Cape Town, receiving the bikes from customs went very smoothly. We worked the guys at Seaboard Maritime Services and they were awesome and helped us every step of the way. We paid an additional fee at the import location for processing customs ($250 per bike).
7. In the end, try not to get too overwhelmed, you are about to start an epic adventure!